A variety of apparatus are commercially available for transporting marine crafts of sizes ranging from kayaks to yachts. For medium to large boats, the apparatus usually consists of a trailer which serves as a means for both transporting and launching the boat. Such a device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,422,665 issued to Hinnant. The device disclosed in the Hinnant patent is intended for towing behind a vehicule and was not meant for manual transport of the boat over an extended distance. Furthermore, the Hinnant device is designed to transport a medium sized boat and is, unfortunately, not adaptable to small marine vehicles.
Smaller marine vehicles, such as kayaks, canoes or small sail boats, do not require a trailer type vehicle because of the reduced size and weight of the craft For such smaller marine crafts, transportation racks, attachable to the roof of an automobile, are available for transporting the craft. Unfortunately, such rack type apparatus provide no assistance in launching the craft. Furthermore, with many of the smaller crafts, such as canoes and kayaks, the desired body of water is often remote from any roads or paths which are accessible to automobiles. Subsequently, the user must dismount the craft from the automobile and manually carry the craft the remaining distance. It is not uncommon for fish and game or sports enthusiasts to manually carry canoes a mile or more to the desired body of water. Unfortunately, it is often impractical and even dangerous for a lone individual to carry a canoe or other craft any distance greater than several hundred feet due to the considerable physical fatigue and stress which occur.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide canoe toter which enables a single user to manually transport a canoe or other small marine craft over extended distances.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a canoe toter which is strong, durable and able to withstand extended wear and abuse from the environment.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a canoe toter which is adaptable to a variety of canoe sizes and which itself can be reduced in size to facilitate ease of storage and transportation when not in use.